Demand Planning Manager

This role is hybrid remote with 60% monthly in-office presence in Mount Prospect, Illinois. (3 days in office per week).
This role assumes end-to-end strategic and operational accountability for the regional demand planning architecture, governance, and consensus forecasting processes across all Business Units. Operating as the primary orchestrator between Commercial Teams, Supply Planning, and Finance, the Demand Planning Manager is directly accountable for maximizing forecast value, reducing forecast bias, optimizing regional inventory health, and ensuring high on-shelf customer availability across diverse networks.
Primary Responsibilities:
S&OP & Consensus Demand Planning: Lead the monthly regional Demand Review process within the S&OP cadence across all product lines and channels. Drive alignment between statistical forecasts and cross-functional business inputs, resolve forecast variances, and ensure the agreed-upon demand plan is accurately reflected in the operational plan.
Performance Governance & KPI Implementation: Own and govern primary operational KPIs, including Forecast Accuracy, Forecast Bias, Supplier OTIF, and inventory levels. Drive post-cycle analyses to evaluate and streamline processes, and lead monthly Cross-Functional Corrective Action Boards to formulate and enforce targeted implementation plans when KPIs breach operating thresholds.
AI Integration & Digitized Operations: Embed artificial intelligence and machine learning into daily planning rituals to shift the organization toward exception-based predictive planning. Supervise automated baseline generation, configure demand sensing tools, and leverage Generative AI for rapid scenario modeling and automated root-cause analysis to maximize touchless forecasting.
Strategic Problem Solving & Inventory Optimization: Apply structured problem-solving methodologies to resolve systemic supply and demand imbalances and distribution bottlenecks. Partner with Supply Planning and Logistics to align safety stocks and replenishment policies with actual demand variability, and lead strategic initiatives to reduce working capital by liquidating slow-moving and obsolete inventory.
Team Leadership & Capability Building: Provide direct supervision, performance coaching, and career development to a team of demand planning professionals. Champion digital fluency and analytical rigor by establishing training programs in data storytelling, Python/R, SQL, and enterprise planning technologies, while cultivating a culture of high accountability and continuous improvement.
Education:
Required: A Bachelor's Degree in Supply Chain Management, Industrial Engineering, Operations Research, Statistics, Business Analytics, or a closely related quantitative field.
Preferred: A Master of Science in Supply Chain, Data Analytics, an Executive MBA, or a special certification such as APICS / ASCM (CSCP, CPIM, CTSC) or IBF (CPF, ACPF).
Experience & Skills:
7+ years of progressive demand planning experience within large-scale consumer goods, durable goods, retail, or industrial power tools, with a proven track record of leading executive S&OP/IBP cycles for portfolios exceeding $500M+.
Demonstrated expertise in applying formal root-cause analysis (DMAIC, 8D, Pareto, 5 Whys) to diagnose forecast errors and service failures and execute sustainable countermeasures.
Practical daily experience leveraging AI forecasting engines, demand sensing technologies, automated algorithm selection, and Generative AI for executive summaries and scenario simulations.
Hands-on proficiency with SAP/S4 HANA and specialized planning tools (e.g., Maestro, Blue Yonder), with a deep understanding of statistical model configuration and master data governance.
Expert-level proficiency in advanced modeling (Power Query, DAX, Excel) and BI visualization (Power BI, Tableau) to translate complex data into executive decision trees.
Exceptional executive presence and a proven ability to hold commercial directors, key account managers, and product leads accountable to consensus plans.
In-depth understanding of the commercial and financial trade-offs between customer service levels, working capital costs, and manufacturing constraints.
3–5 years of direct people management experience with a demonstrated track record of coaching analysts and driving team engagement.

Employment type
Full-time

Work arrangement
Hybrid